Shaquille O'Neal is one of the biggest names in NBA history, and one of the biggest superstars of the sport to successfully gain cross-promotional appeal. In retirement, O'Neal — ever the businessman — is frequently on TV shows, commercials, and he even has his own podcast.
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Well, that podcast is where he recently stirred up some controversy.
The topic of Nick Saban and the College Football Playoff champs Alabama came up, and O'Neal was a little bit furious at the position that the Crimson Tide are in.
Via SEC Country:
"We had him at LSU first," Shaq said. "If [LSU] would have paid him the money, that would be [LSU] right now. Everything's about money."
Saban won a BCS national championship at LSU in 2004, and everything seemed to be going perfect for the Tigers. However, the NFL came calling, and the Dolphins poached Saban away with a massive contract. The Saban-in-the-NFL experiment failed, though, and the head coach returned to the college game a few years later in Tuscaloosa. Since his arrival, the Crimson Tide have won four national championships, and are recognized as the sport's current ruling dynasty.
Could that have been LSU? Certainly, as Saban has proven time and time again that he is one of the best coaches in the college game. The only thing that might be unfair is that when the Dolphins came calling for Saban from LSU, they were offering a substantial pay-raise to Saban while he was already the highest paid coach in college football; while in hindsight it is easy to say that LSU should have matched, it was not that simple at the time.
Of course, that is not going to stop Shaq from having an opinion, and it's not like his opinion is completely wrong here.
